Bleep

Gaspar Claus is an accomplished French cellist, best known until now for his many cross-genre collaborations with such luminaries as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sufjan Stevens, Efterklang and his father Pedro Soler. InFiné presents Tancade, his debut album as a solo artist.

Tancade is the result of a long, patient creative process which began in earnest over a few days while in a small village in Luberon, France in 2017. The pandemic of 2020 allowed Claus to revisit the same themes of isolation and solitude, and refocus his energy as the world, and his schedule as a touring musician, ground to a halt.

Created entirely using cello apart from the odd spoken word, its styles and influences are as broad as his list of collaborators suggests. Emotive film scores, timeless folk and contemporary jazz are some of the touching points as he tweaks and repurposes the cello, as a staccato-ed percussive driving force or as an expansive bed of reverb-drenched notes.

There’s experimental moments to be found too. ‘2359’ sounds like an early Four Tet take, a kind of folky organic electronica with dramatic surges of pedal distortion, and the second half of ‘Ô Sélénites’ drifts into a Tim Hecker style cavernous dirge. A collection of exceptional cinematic mood pieces, guided by a visionary cellist pushing the sonic potential of his craft.